Who We Are

Students for Education Reform develops college students into grassroots organizers who fight for educational justice in their communities.

Our experiences and stories of overcoming educational inequality are undeniable and validate the demand for transformative change in our K-12 system. We fight for high academic standards, access to quality teachers and the right for families to choose the best school for their child, especially in communities that have historically been left behind.

What We Seek

One day, Americans will choose to offer universal quality public education. For the first time in our nation’s history, all students and communities will have access to a public education worthy of their dignity, talents, and limitless potential.

Educational justice cannot be achieved unless schools are safe, academically challenging, and inspire every child to reach their limitless potential. We envision: A system of thriving accessible and quality schools that gives each child – regardless of race or socioeconomic background – the opportunity to succeed in college and in life. A school system where teachers and parents hold high expectations for students and work relentlessly to ensure no student falls through the cracks. A system where schools in which every family can choose a school and academic path that is right for their child.

SFER organizes college students to be a powerful force for K-12 education policy and political change through campus chapters that work at the national, state, and local levels to advocate for great teachers and quality school choices for all kids.

SFER primarily serves first-generation college students, students of color, and students from low-income backgrounds, who use the power of their own stories to fight for great teachers and quality school choices for all kids.

We are working to give kids who have traditionally been left behind in our country an education that can drastically change the direction of their lives.

We engage in radical, strategic actions that disrupt the status quo with the same intensity and regularity with which our current education system disrupts the futures of millions of children of color and poor children.

Students for Education Reform develops college students into grassroots organizers who fight for educational justice in their communities.

SFER is a fierce army of truth-tellers, reclaiming the narrative about our schools and communities.

SFER members demonstrate their standing as powerful advocates by telling stories about their public school experiences and the undeniable impact of educational inequality in their lives and communities.

In our fight to fix a broken education system, our students are passionate and audacious; unafraid to speak up and take radical action to obtain a quality public education for all kids.

Our mission and model add distinct value to the movement to improve American public schools by demonstrating community and public demand for reforms.

Our authentic student stories make the undeniable case for change and the powerful policy solutions that exist.

We give college students a platform to be leaders in changing what’s broken in our public schools.

Our members use their personal experiences to inform their support for policies that will improve outcomes for their brothers, sisters, and friends still in the K-12 system.

SFER empowers students to bring attention to academic achievement gaps in their communities and greater public pressure on elected officials to implement policy solutions.

We build long-term power in underserved communities by providing hands on coaching that gives students the skills, tools and platform to drive the changes needed in their neighborhoods.

SFER empowers college students to champion and organize around education solutions they believe in.

Most SFER members and staff were first-generation college students who came from low-income backgrounds and communities of color, and have had to overcome the achievement gap in heroic ways.

We strive to build a wholly inclusive community and culture that celebrates our identities because we know that our different experiences are a source of shared learning, making us stronger in the process.

SFER members’ vision for urgent education reform is grounded in their experience with poverty and racism.